If things get tougher?

mardatha

.....its cold enough now, nevermind winter. We are frozen up here !

Pitlanepiglet

My Dad is 75 and on his own and I've found that sometimes the only way to sort things like lining curtains, insulating letterboxes, changing fuel tariffs is to go and do it myself. He's pretty switched on but finds it all baffling! I think we have to remember that life has changed hugely for folk of this age, it used to be simple, you bought your electricity from the supplier in your area, ditto phone costs etc. TBH I find it hard work to get my head around it sometimes so I have quite a lot of sympathy for Dad. Dad had never been in a supermarket until around 15 years ago when he was left on his own, I took him to his mid sized Tesco and the whole thing was hugely confusing for him! So many different products, brands and prices, how do you know what to buy, you really do have to be switched on to work out what is good, bad and ugly!

We hoping to move to be much closer to him next year and if I was staying this far (90 miles) away from him I'd be doing his food shopping from Tesco online to save him the trauma of the supermarket!

trying-very-trying

Gigervamp wrote: »

I'm worried about our heating costs this winter. We're on oil and still in debt from last winter's oil costs, even though we've upped our DD payments to £75 a month. We used to be in credit by this time of the year.
We have a fireplace in the living room, but were told that we can't use it because the chimney needs relining. Apparently smoke comes out in the bedroom above.
We do have a portable calor gas fire, so I think we'll be using that a lot.

However, what worries me more, especially after yesterdays announcements about gas prices, is my mum. She's on the basic state pension and only just gets by as it is. Her supplier told her she needed to increase her DD payments a couple of months ago to an amount that she couldn't afford, so she managed to get them to agree to a slightly lesser amount. I dread to think what's going to happen now.
I've been reading Martins advice and I'm going to get her to ring Staywarm for a quote and then I'll have to check the price comparison sites (she doesn't have a pc) for her to see if we can find her a capped rate that she can afford.

Gingervamp, I sympathise about the oil, my dd has oil heating and she told me about the effect to her following price hike:eek:

Have you asked your local council about a grant to reline your chimney? We had to get ours done a couple of years ago, but we did qualify for the grant, so it only cost us about £50.

mary43

originally posted by icemaiden
Npower are doing a scheme at the moment called Spreading warmth or something like that, if you have less than £14,000, over 60,

I saw this on the Gas & Elec. Board on here and told my disabled friend about it. She applied on Monday and its all sorted. She should get £125 discount off her elec. bill come January next year. Anything that will help she's grateful for as she lives in a big old farmhouse. Much as she'd love to sell it, now isn't the right time for her. She's got bedsocks, bedjackets, thermals, draught excluders, and tends to live and sleep in one room so saves heating the rest of the house but being an old farm house it can feel very cold even on the warmest of days.

Aril -I'm sure you'll find draught exluders very easy to make - it's just a long sausage shape, the width of the door. Stick some felt ears on it, a couple of buttons for eyes and a plaited piece of wool for a tail and you''ve got a 'sausage dog'...........lol Ours are just made our of some sort of pretty material I've picked up in the charity shops.........old curtains, that sort of thing.

anniewoo

ceridwen wrote: »

Me - I'm planning on turning into "the lady with the lamp" - as in wind-up lantern and forget using my lights as far as possible. Now where's my nursing uniform? (oooooh....Matron..):D

Ceridwen,where did you get your wind-up lantern from? I am seriously thinking of getting one of these before the winter,to use in the evenings when I am watching TV,or to carry around the house the house with me instead of switching on the lights.Good grief,it's like being back in the Middle Ages,isn't it,instead of the 21st century?

You have to laugh or else you would cry.

tiff

Dont lights use the least amount of electricity? I always thought if you used energy lightbulbs it was pence compared to appliances that heat?

mardatha

Well Annie, sooner or later the oil will run out anyway , so we might as well start trying to find ways to live around it...It is fun in a weird way innit ?
.. LOL I always loved the Time Team

ceridwen

anniewoo wrote: »

ceridwen wrote: »

Me - I'm planning on turning into "the lady with the lamp" - as in wind-up lantern and forget using my lights as far as possible. Now where's my nursing uniform? (oooooh....Matron..):D

Ceridwen,where did you get your wind-up lantern from? I am seriously thinking of getting one of these before the winter,to use in the evenings when I am watching TV,or to carry around the house the house with me instead of switching on the lights.Good grief,it's like being back in the Middle Ages,isn't it,instead of the 21st century?

You have to laugh or else you would cry.

Well I know the link wont come out if I type it straight in....it will register part of it as !!!!! - so here goes another way:

www.

ethicalsuperstore.

com

One can also get them in camping stores.

ceridwen

tiff wrote: »

Dont lights use the least amount of electricity? I always thought if you used energy lightbulbs it was pence compared to appliances that heat?

Well theres 2 reasons in my case:

- I dont use low energy lightbulbs (because of the mercury in them - and problems disposing of them when they are through - ie they cant just be thrown in the rubbish bin like ordinary ones can).

- Every little helps

Personally - I am not that keen on overhead lighting anyways:D

(errrr.....and there is that element of self-sufficiency of course - never mind what happens to the power supplies - I have ensured I can have light - and (from other things I have) I can also listen to a radio and do some cooking.)

Valli

Aril -I'm sure you'll find draught exluders very easy to make - it's just a long sausage shape, the width of the door. Stick some felt ears on it, a couple of buttons for eyes and a plaited piece of wool for a tail and you''ve got a 'sausage dog'...........lol Ours are just made our of some sort of pretty material I've picked up in the charity shops.........old curtains, that sort of thing.[/quote]

Another quick (but far less attractive method) is to stuff tights/stockings and use them!